New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has become the most searched-for New Zealand political leader on Google as election 2023 enters the home stretch.
New data from Google Trends on Monday - the first day of advance voting - shows Peters has rocketed up the rankings, receiving 29 percent of searches for New Zealand party leaders over the past 14 days.
It comes as his New Zealand First party attempts to mount a comeback for Parliament. After being knocked out in 2020, Peters' party is now hovering around the 5 percent threshold in the most recent polls.
He was thrown back into the political spotlight in a major way last week after National leader Christopher Luxon revealed he was willing to pick up the phone to Peters if it was necessary to form a Government. Accusations of race-baiting - rejected by Peters - have also kept New Zealand First in the conversation.
Behind Peters is Labour's COVID-19-positive Chris Hipkins with 24 percent of searches and Luxon with 23 percent. Two weeks ago, Luxon was receiving a third of searches, while Hipkins was receiving 30 percent.
After the top three, there is ACT leader David Seymour with 17 percent of searches, the Greens co-leaders Marama Davidson (4 percent) and James Shaw (1 percent) and Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer both on 1 percent.
When looking at search for political parties, National is ahead with 22 percent of searches, then ACT with 20 percent, New Zealand First with 16 percent, The Opportunities Party with 13 percent, Te Pāti Māori with 11 percent, Labour with 7 percent, and the Greens on 4 percent. An assortment of other minor parties are on 2 percent.
Google's data also shows how search interest in each party has changed over the course of the year relative to each other.
National and ACT have fought each other off for the top spot throughout the year, with either Labour or Te Pāti Māori often in third. While New Zealand First wasn't in the top three for most of the year, over recent weeks it has crept up.
Google also lists some of the top questions asked by users this year. Here are some of those questions and the answers.
When is the NZ Election?
The New Zealand election is being held on October 14, 2023.
Overseas voting for the election begins on September 27, while advance voting begins on October 2.
When was the last election?
The last New Zealand election was in October 2020. The Labour Party, then led by Ardern, won a historic majority with 50 percent of the vote.
How many seats in NZ's Parliament?
There are 120 seats in the Parliament if there is no overhang. To form a Government, a party or parties need to secure 61 or more.
